SEMO educators address dealing with 'COVID fatigue'

The interim director of Southeast Missouri State University’s Center for Behavioral Health and Accessibility doesn’t mince words when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s no end in sight and we’re tired of it,” said Millicent Odhiambo.

Much of the world went into novel coronavirus lockdown in greater or lesser degrees by mid-March.

“After almost eight months (of COVID), we’re all exhausted,” she added.

“I don’t like wearing a mask,” said Melissa Odegard-Koester, interim dean of Southeast’s College of Humanities and Social Services. “But I also think (a mask) is part of what I wear now (and) it’s the new normal.”

Southeast’s “Protect the Nest” initiative, the university’s pandemic response, has so far been successful in ensuring the continuation of in-person classes during the Fall 2020 semester by insisting on total compliance with face-covering requirements, social distancing and the use of university-supplied cleaning supplies after classrooms are used.

Dan Presson, Southeast’s director of career services, also represents the 1st Ward on the Cape Girardeau City Council.

Presson took a moment in a recent council meeting to plead for vigilance in mask-wearing and social distancing.

“People are so fatigued (by COVID) it seems to me they’ve stopped thinking about it,” said Presson, who took his seat on the council in 2018.

“As a new parent, it’s terrifying,” he said, adding, “I’d feel awful if I was the reason illness was brought into our home.”

Psychology Today magazine, in a recent article, suggested pandemic fatigue is “real” and has left all of us yearning for more social connection.

“Before the pandemic, roughly two-thirds of all social interactions were face-to-face (but) not anymore,” the periodical stated, adding that the use of Zoom videoconferencing software went from 10 million daily participants in the U.S. in December 2019 to 300 million by April 2020.

“I suspect the terms ‘Zoom fatigue’ and ‘COVID fatigue’ are practically interchangeable,” said Odegard-Koester, a former university department chairwoman with a background in psychology and counseling.

Adjusting to a new normal

Odegard-Koester recommended coping strategies during a global health crisis showing few signs of abating.

“Take a 5-minute walk, breathe in the outside air, see the colors change,” she said, adding that people would do well to be more intentional about personal wellness, especially during the more confining winter months ahead.

Perspective

Odhiambo said pandemic response was much tougher in her native Kenya.

“We had a total lockdown for six months with a strict curfew,” she said, adding that people in Kenya were subject to arrest if seen outdoors without a mask during that period.

“Adherence (to protocols) has relaxed (in Kenya) over time and that’s a human thing,” Odhiambo acknowledged.